Spam Spam Spam Humbug chats with Adam “Goldenflame Dragon” Burr about The Dark Unknown, the Kickstarter campaign for which concludes this weekend.

Intro

New Followers & Ultima Dragons

We have a new follower on Podbean this week: ZTrigger(a podcast about gaming...and books).

And we are also happy to welcome several new members to the Ultima Dragons Facebook group, including: Loren, Shane, Terry, Myke, Norrin, Mike, Chris, and Rudolph. Welcome and SPLUT! to all.

Podcast Topic(s)

We're publishing this episode early, because on very short notice we were able to get together with Adam Burr, also known as Goldenflame Dragon, who has been working on a browser-based, old-school, tiled RPG called The Dark Unknown for a number of years now. Just under a month ago, he launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds tor some manual art to be composed by the lovely and talented Indi Martin, and he has since raised more than double his base goal.

Here, roughly, are the questions we posted to Adam:

What was the moment when you decided you wanted to make your game and what was the catalyst for that decision?

Was there an initial design document, and has the project exceeded your expectations of its initial scope?

Were there specific design elements you wished to celebrate with respect to previous Ultima and Ultima-like games, and if so, why?

What are your favourite Ultimas?

Are there other early CRPG's beside Ultima that have influenced your design and if so, how?

What are your least favorite features from the early Ultimas and ones you are attempting to either improve on or completely avoid in your game?

After having run a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the game's supplementary artwork, has being over 200% funded changed your goals for the game, and if so, how?

Do you plan on running additional campaigns and further expanding the scope of the project or bringing in new team members as specialists?

If you had limitless time and money, what features would you like to see added to your game?

What features that are not currently in the game are you planning to add?

Do you plan on eventually adding multiplayer elements to the game, such as co-op play?

What do you think it is about this particular class of RPG's that makes them so memorable to people and what would you say to other gamers that may not give them a chance simply because the graphics look outdated or are not 3D?

Many would-be game developers have misconceptions about the actual time and resources it actually takes to finish even a 2D tile based RPG's such as yours. It's not hard to find countless other CRPG's in this class that have been started by other passionate individuals, but that never get completed. Could you share some of the misconceptions you originally had about the development of your game and offer some practical advice to other game developers that may be thinking about embarking on a similar journey?

What were some of the challenges you faced?

What proved to be harder than expected (and/or easier than expected)?

After you complete the Dark Unknown, what can we expect next from Adam Burr and Tapestry Of Ages Games?

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